Overview

The IDAutomation Streaming Barcode Server for IIS adds barcode generation
capability to Microsoft Windows Server 2003 and greater. These barcodes
are streamed to Internet web browsers and applications without saving temp images on
the server. The barcode is created in an application as a dynamic IMG
tag and is modified from parameters passed. After installation, the
streaming barcode server generates barcodes as a dynamic image to
many applications
and on multiple operating systems, including mobile devices. If a barcode scanner
is not available for testing, consider these
hand-held barcode scanner
kits.

Installation

From the IIS Management Console, determine which Virtual Directory (or
Application) the streaming
barcode component will generate images from. The Virtual Directory
(or Application) is mapped to a physical directory that will be part of the URL used
to acquire the barcode. If you are creating a separate Virtual Directory
to generate barcodes, use the directory name "idautomation".

Within the IIS Management Console, ensure the Virtual Directory (or
Application) is set up to run aspx scripts for dynamic content.
For Windows Server 2003, right click on the Virtual Directory and choose
properties. In the Virtual Directory folder, ensure Execute Permissions are set
to Scripts Only.
For Windows Server 2008, 2008 R2 and 2012, add the ASP.NET IIS Role Service from
Server Manager.

Extract all files from the IDAutomation_LinearASPSetup.zip
package, which will contain the following files:

File Name

Virtual
Directory

Copy to
GAC

IDAutomationStreamingLinear.aspx

idautomation\

LinearStreamCS.dll

idautomation\bin\

IDAutomation.LinearServerControl.dll

idautomation\bin\

Yes (if necessary)

Copy files ending in aspx
to the root of the Virtual Directory. This file will be accessed
to generate barcodes.
NOTE: In Windows Server 2008 and above, including Windows Server 2012, the
Virtual Directory must also be an application. If this is not the case,
right-click on the Virtual Directory and choose Convert to Application.

If it does not already exist, create a folder in the Virtual
Directory named "bin" and copy files ending in
dll to that directory.

To verify the project is working correctly, view the streaming
page in the browser from the local machine; for example:http://localhost/idautomation/IDAutomationStreamingLinear.aspx

If the barcode does not appear, try placing
IDAutomationLinearServerControl.dll
in the Global Assembly Cache (GAC) and restart IIS. Some configurations of IIS
on Windows Server 2003 and greater require the server control files to reside in
the GAC. This may be performed by opening two instances of Windows
Explorer. In one, choose the files ending in
ServerControl.dll (ex:
IDAutomationLinearServerControl.dll).
In the other, navigate to C:\Windows\Assembly and copy the files
into the Assembly folder. Explorer must be used to copy the files
from one window to the other. If problems are encountered, refer to Microsoft
documentation about
copying files
into the GAC.

The barcode may now be created
in another application as an
IMG tag from parameters passed; for example:<img src="http://yourserver.com/idautomation/IDAutomationStreamingLinear.aspx?barcode=123456789012&H=1.7"/>

Streaming
Barcode Implementation

Parameters in the URL of streaming barcode products determine the
data that is encoded as well as other properties. To transition from
the examples provided, replace http://www.bcgen.com/demo/linear-dbgs.aspx
with the unique URL of your streaming barcode generation product.
Several
implementation examples are provided.

Barcodes may be dynamically generated and displayed
as demonstrated on the
IDAutomation
Software Return Form which uses JavaScript to create
a printable page displaying barcodes used to automate data
entry. Within the JavaScript function, the order number
is encoded in the symbol with the following code:

Barcode Parameters and
Properties

Parameters used in the Java Barcode Package, Hosted
Barcode Generator Service and the Streaming Barcode Server for IIS are also compatible with this product. All parameters
are uppercase; true and false parameter values should
be specified as either "T" or "F."

Property
Name

Parameter

Default

Property
Description

Apply Tilde

PT

F

When True in Code 128 with the
Auto character set, the format
~??? may be used
to specify the
ASCII code of the character to be encoded and several
other
ApplyTilde Barcode Options are enabled.

When text appears in this property,
it is displayed in the margin above the symbol.

Caption Below

CB

Null

When text appears in this property,
it is displayed in the margin below the symbol.

Caption Top Font

CTF

Arial

The font type used for top caption.

Caption Bottom Font

CBF

Arial

The font type used for bottom
caption.

Caption Font Color

CFC

Black

The font color used for captions.

Caption Top Color

CTC

Black

The font color used for top caption.

Caption Bottom Color

CBC

Black

The font color used for bottom
caption.

Caption Font Size

CFS

10

The size of the font used in
captions.

Caption Top Size

CTS

10

The size of the font used in
top caption.

Caption Bottom Size

CBS

10

The size of the font used in
bottom caption.

Caption Top Alignment

CTA

Center

The alignment of the top caption.
Valid values are: Near, Center, and Far.

Caption Bottom Alignment

CBA

Center

The alignment of the bottom caption.
Valid values are: Near, Center, and Far.

Check Character

CC

T

Automatically adds the check
digit to the barcode when true. The check digit is required
for all symbologies except Code 39, Industrial 2 of
5 and Codabar. When using symbologies that do not require
the check digit, the check digit may be disabled.

Check Character in Text

CT

F

Check Character in Text automatically
adds the check digit that is encoded in the barcode
to the human readable text that is displayed when true.

DataToEncode

D

123456789012

The data that is to be encoded
in the barcode symbol.

Image Type

I

GIF

The type of image to be created;
JPEG, GIF, and 1BMP(One Bit Per Pixel) are supported.

The width in
centimeters of the narrow bars. The X dimension
should be increased if the barcode scanner being used
does not dependably decode the symbol. The X dimension
may only be adjusted in increments of .03cm (12mils)
unless ImageResolution is increased.

XDimension in MILS

M

12

The width in mils (1/1000 of
an inch) of the narrow bars. The X dimension should
be increased if the barcode scanner used does not dependably
decode the symbol.

The Encoding Mode for data being
encoded. Valid parameters are 0=ASCII, 1=C40, 2=TEXT
and 3=BASE256. To encode
GS1-DataMatrix,
ensure MODE is set to "0".

Preferred Format

PFMT

0

Sets the
preferred format represented by a number; valid
values are from 1 (10X10) to 24 (144X144) and from 25
(8X18) to 30 (16X48); the default value of '0' is used
for automatic formatting. If the component needs more
space to create the symbol, this property will be ignored.

X Dimension

X

0.06

The width in
centimeters of the squares that make up the symbol.
This value may need to be increased if the scanner cannot
read symbols with small X dimensions. When working with
a 2D barcode scanner, this value may be decreased to
create a smaller symbol.

When using Maxicode
in modes 2 or 3 for UPS and other transportation applications,
the Service Class, Country Code and Zip Code must be
included in the DataToEncode (D Parameter) as defined
in the
MaxiCode FAQ.

ApplyTilde

PT

T

When true, the format ~ddd may
be used to specify the
ASCII code of the character to be encoded as explained
in the MaxiCode FAQ. A setting of "False" will disable
ApplyTilde.

EncodingMode

M

Mode2

The
mode of compression and encoding used in the symbol.
Modes 2 and 3 are designed for use in the transport
industry. Mode 4 encodes up to 93 characters or 138
digits. Mode 5 encodes up to 77 characters and provides
more error correction capabilities than mode 4. Mode
6 indicates that the symbol encodes a message used to
program a reader system (scanner).

When true, the tilde (~) will
be processed and the format
~d??? may be used
to specify the
ASCII code of the character to be encoded. For example,
"AZTEC~d009CODE" encodes "AZTEC <TAB> CODE."

Error Correction Level

ECL

0

The Reed Solomon error correction
level encoded in the symbol, specified as a value from
1 to 99. More error correction creates a larger symbol
that can withstand more damage. The default setting
of 0 performs automatic selection, which is usually
a value of 23.

MessageAppend

MA

na

Specifies the message appended
across multiple symbols. Only valid if NumberOfSymbols
is greater than 1.

NumberOfSymbols

NS

1

Invokes MessageAppend across
symbols.

ReaderInitialization

RI

F

Adds the reader initialization
symbol to the barcode for older scanners, which require
it.

X Dimension

X

0.06

The width in
centimeters of the squares that make up the symbol.
This value may need to be increased if the scanner cannot
read symbols with small X dimensions. When working with
a 2D barcode scanner, this value may be decreased to
create a smaller symbol.

When set to "True," the format
~d??? may be used
to specify the
ASCII code of the character to be encoded. Commonly
used ASCII codes are ~d009, which is a tab function
and ~d013, which is a return function.

EncodingMode

MODE

B

The
mode of compaction used to encode data in the symbol.
Valid values are "B"(Byte),"A"(Alphanumeric), and
"N"(Numeric) mode.

Version

V

0

Sets the size of the symbol with
valid values from 1 (21X21) to 40 (177X177). A default
value of "0" is used for automatic formatting.

The width in
centimeters of the squares that make up the symbol.
This value may need to be increased if the scanner cannot
read symbols with small X dimensions. When working with
a 2D barcode scanner, this value may be decreased to
create a smaller symbol.

When set to "True," the format
~d??? may be used
to specify the
ASCII code of the character to be encoded. Commonly
used ASCII codes are ~d009, which is a tab function
and ~d013, which is a return function.

CompositeData

CD

Null

The composite data to be encoded
above the linear barcode; however, not applicable when
using PDF417 or MicroPDF417.

Barcode Image Resolution

The default resolution generated barcode images is 96 DPI which allows
the image to be displayed properly in a web browser although it may
be necessary to increase the resolution of the image for printing purposes.
This can be easily accomplished in Server Control Mode by changing the
ImageResolution property. Increasing the resolution in Streaming Mode
can cause the image to display proportionally larger in the browser.
To resolve this issue in Streaming Mode, the size of the image may be
reduced
or expanded using HTML.

Common Support Issues for Streaming Barcode Server for IIS

Using Windows Explorer, create a physical directory
below the website directory that will be part of the URL.
Example: c:\Inetpub\wwwroot\IDAutomation

Open Internet Information Services or Information Services
Manager (IIS). This tool can be found under Administrative
Tools.

Right-click Default Web site and choose New
- Virtual Directory.

Click Next on the Welcome screen of the Virtual
Directory Creation Wizard.

Enter an Alias name that maps a physical directory
that will be part of the URL. Example:
http://www.mydomain.com/IDAutomation.

Choose Next and Browse to the physical
directory created earlier.

Select the physical directory, choose Next to
grant the default permissions and click Finish.

NOTE: In Windows Server 2008 and above, including Windows Server 2012,
the Virtual Directory must also be an application in IIS. If this is not the
case, right-click on the Virtual Directory and choose Convert to Application.

This error is generated when IDAutomationStreamingLinear.aspx
is not executed from a virtual directory under IIS with the ability to run applications.
In Windows Server 2008 and above, including Windows Server 2012, the Virtual
Directory must also be an application in IIS. If this is not the
case, right-click on the Virtual Directory and choose Convert to Application.

Error - "Server Error in Application" Parser Error:

The error may look similar to this:

Server Error in '/'
Application. Parser ErrorDescription:
An error occurred during the parsing of a resource
required to service this request. Please review
the following specific parse error details and modify
the source file appropriately. Parser Error
Message: File or assembly name IDAutomation.LinearServerControl,
or one of its dependencies, was not found.

If this error is received in ASP.NET
Project Integration, a reference to the server control
DLL was not found. Add a reference to the IDAutomation Server
Control in the project. For example: Right Click on References,
Choose Browse and select the server control DLL.

ASP.NET Project Barcode
Integration

When a Developer License is purchased with a signed
Source Code
Agreement, the ASP.NET solution of streaming DLLs can be provided
for custom integration, modification and code-behind in ASP.NET. When
using products other than the linear version in this example, the difference
in file names should be considered.

Extract all files from the package.

After the files are extracted, additional ZIP files will be
found in the destination directory. Extract all files from the zip
ending in CS as the IDAutomation_StreamingLinear_CS.zip
is used for a C# project.

Locate the image generating web page .aspx file from the extracted
files. Copy this file and all associated files to the ASP.NET project
directory. The image generating ASP.NET page for the linear control
is IDAutomationStreamingLinear.aspx
and its associated files are IDAutomationStreamingLinear.aspx.resx
and IDAutomationStreamingLinear.aspx.cs.

Copy the appropriate Server Control DLL file to the ASP.NET
project directory. In this example,
IDAutomation.linearservercontrol.dll is copied.

Add a reference to the IDAutomation Server Control in the project.
For example: Right-Click on References, choose Browse and select
the server control DLL.

Add the IDAutomationStreamingLinear.aspx
file to the ASP.NET project by right-clicking the name of the project
in Solution Explorer and selecting Add Existing Item. The following
graphic illustrates the reference to the DLL and the image generating
web page aspx file in a solution.

Rebuild the solution or project.

To verify the project is working correctly, view the actual
streaming aspx page in the browser. Example:
http://localhost/WebApplication1/IDAutomationStreamingLinear.aspx

Choose the method that will update properties of the barcode:

Dynamic IMG Tag Method:

The following demonstrates how to pass
parameters to the streaming barcode
generator from a URL.<img
src="IDAutomationStreamingLinear.aspx?barcode=0123456789012&S=0&H=1.5"/>IDAutomation provides examples of creating barcodes
in this way with
JavaScript and
Crystal Reports.

Code-Behind Method:

To implement code-behind using Visual Studio .NET, reference
the sample project included in the ZIP file and the
LinearStreamCS.csproj
file. Add the image tag referencing the image generating
aspx page, which was added to the project, to the aspx page
that needs to display the barcode image. Example:
<img src="IDAutomationStreamingLinear.aspx"/>
The Page_Load event for the image generating .aspx page
may be changed to hard-code specific values for the image
that is to be displayed.